Politicians, Media and Thugs

ENOUGH, for crying out loud! I keep hearing the same rhetoric on the news and social media from politicians, media and thugs but it does not comport with the communities we live in. Take out the rabble rousers and what you have is a population who support and love their police. Google it and you will find that strong support is at a high level. I witness it every day, but perception is reality for some. So why do we think that the police are so hated and why have police stopped policing to the detriment of the people we serve?

There is an agenda in America. From the founding of this country there has been an enmity with freedom and liberty. America is not a place but an idea. Nowhere else in the world is liberty proclaimed in the founding documents Over the last 50 years, while we have been getting fat and sassy, the pedagogy has turned increasingly leftist in their doctrine. How is it that children today are so supportive of socialism and anti-capitalism? How is it that children know almost nothing of the truth of the founding fathers and have come to hate the strong history of our country? What does any of this have to do with the police?

Let’s start with the thugs. Groups like Black Lives Matter, MoveOn.org, By Any Means Necessary and Antifa want to bring change to this country but they are not American values that they uphold. Look at their websites and what values they really espouse. They are all leftist groups that are exaggerating or manufacturing flaws in our culture to divide our communities. Remember those great words echoed by President Lincoln, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”? These groups push to undo E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One) by driving a wedge in our community. All this to relieve themselves of personal responsibility.

The media is another group of left wing goofballs that have been exposed for their lack of American values. The problem is they control much of the mainstream news and the people who report it to the public. Their use of orchestrated news or opinion espoused as news has fueled the flames of incidents, which when the fires cool, turn out to be lies but lies sell. The last poll I looked at showed that only 27 percent of the public are very confident in the news being true. This is self serving and our communities are suffering.

Politics has always been mean but with the divide between ideologies is at its greatest gulf ever, a politician will try to capitalize on any topic to get elected. To show themselves as leaders, many are jumping on the anti-law enforcement/pro-criminal bandwagon. The idea that society is the problem is a left-wing idea and has been gaining steam. Personal responsibility (an American value) is no longer being taught in schools. Lincoln also stated that, “The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” The thugs, media and politicians all try to blame society for the bad behavior of the few. Many police chiefs are political appointees and their lack of leadership and their cowardice is reflected in police morale nationwide.

The results of these lies and verbal attacks are a sharp increase in police murders, a lack of applicants nationwide for police service and a pull-back in police response. All these affect communities and the effects will only continue to climb as law enforcement tries to realign themselves with what this job really entails and the fear of the shifting climate. There is a reason that my brothers and sisters of the shield put on a Kevlar vest and gun to do this noble and honorable work. They enter chaos and restore order in call after call. These are American heroes going where other will never and could never.

It is not our communities who hold these anti-police sentiments being espoused by politicians, media and thugs. Our communities show their deep support for the police in levies and polls, but we need more in law enforcement and society. Sir Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” It is time for good people to stand up and say “Enough”. We are approaching a crossroads in America. Do the people want the police to continue to fight evil or do they want someone to take a report?

This is my call for community, the American people, to stand up and say “ENOUGH”. It is time for good people to say no to evil and do something for law enforcement. Walk up to an officer, make a phone call, post on social media or go to the next town gathering and say, “I stand with law enforcement!” It is time for good Americans to stand up and do something before there are no more police to answer that call for help. We need our communities’ support now.

Tim Barfield is in his 35th year as a police officer. He started as a police officer in a rural village before transferring to an inner ring suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. He spent 32 years in that department gaining experience in many areas of police work. In 2014, he accepted a position as police chief for another department. He is a husband, father and grandfather who has a love for police work and police officers with a goal of helping them succeed in a great profession. His responsibilities and desires have included patrol, traffic, DARE, SWAT, training and supervision. He is a member of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association. He continues to learn and instruct on subjects with an emphasis on awareness, police survival mindset and ethics.

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